Word Family Hats Freebie (for CVC words)

During this time of year we really focus on CVC words. That’s why today I want to share with you our word family hats!We work hard to move past /c/ /a/ /t/ –> cup to /c/ /a/ /t/ —> cat. It’s so fun to watch the pride on their little faces when they finally get it. We do a lot of word family practice so that kids learn “if I can spell…, then I can spell…“For instance, if they can read and write hat, then they can read and write: cat, mat, rat, sat, etc. just by changing the first letter. Showing students the connection between the words seems to make the process less intimidating and in the end, makes them more successful.

I made this little hat activity to practice word families and CVC words. It’s super easy to put together. I printed the hat template on card stock(I used green card stock for our word family hats so that I can use it for St. Patrick’s day, but you can use any color you’d like). Using them for Halloween? Use orange! Valentine’s day? Use red! Easter? Use pastels! You get the idea!

Just laminate and cut out the hats. I typed the word families on the hats so that they correspond to the word families on the recording sheet. Sometimes I am so picky about my own handwriting, so it’s just easier to let the computer do the work for me!

Next, I printed the CVC words on white card stock. (Here’s an affiliate link to the cardstock I use – 65# cardstock) I used white because I wanted the words to be easy to read and stand out, but again, you can use any color.

Students will read the word family and then match the CVC strips to the corresponding word family hats.

To show their work, students will record the words on the recording sheet. The first one is done for them so they get the idea of what to do.

For the rest of the word families, they will record the CVC words that correspond to the word family on the hat.

Just a little tip…when printing be sure to set your printer setting to “scale to fit” so the border on the recording sheet doesn’t get cut off!

Here’s another activity idea for working on CVC Word Families. I don’t know about your class, but spinners are ALWAYS a hit in mine. When I use spinners, I swear the kids have so much fun that they forget that they’re learning too! It doesn’t matter the skill, there’s just something about spinning that paper clip around and the anticipation of what they’ll land on.I made a CVC packet entirely focused around the concept of spinners. This packet is so easy to prep {which is the part that I love} but is SO fun for the kids! Just print, cut, and laminate the spinner. Print the recording sheet and you’re done. There’s also an “I Can” chart included.

Students use a paper clip and pencil to make the spinner. After they spin, the say the name of the picture that they spun. They find the matching CVC word on their paper and color it.

My favorite part of this activity is that it’s color coded so that I can check their work once they are finished. There’s a small dot on the spinner that tells the student what color to color that word.

There’s a total of 22 short vowel word families included…that’s enough for 22 center activities! Check them out by click on the picture below.

Want to try the activity out with your class? Click on the picture below to download the -en family!

Thanks for reading along! I hope you and your students enjoy the word family hats!